


The Last One Wins

by NoctIsFishing



Category: Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna - Fandom
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Minor Kizuna Spoilers, Pre-Epilogue, ship-wise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:06:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27627908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoctIsFishing/pseuds/NoctIsFishing
Summary: The Digidestined have grown into adults and are ready to embark on family life. Matt wonders if he and Sora are going to be the last ones to have a kid.Between him and Tai, he wants to make sure that it happens that way.
Relationships: Ishida Yamato | Matt Ishida/Takenouchi Sora
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	1. The Bet

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a silly idea between me and a few of my friends on Discord. The actual conversation happened nearly a year ago, and I'm happy that I'm finally bringing it out of my drafts!
> 
> Shoutout to @leonardo1123581321 @SakuraRebin and @BlondeandConfused! I give them credit for making the basis of this idea. <3
> 
> This fic will feature confirmed ships to stay true to the Digimon Adventure 02 Epilogue. The other Digidestined spouses will be unnamed.
> 
> The rating is M; romance scenes are light but wanted to be safe!

For once, all that Matt wanted was a quiet evening. 

It was what he casually explained to Tai over the phone when he called to ask what Matt was up to. Sora was visiting her mother to prepare for another ikebana exhibition, so he had planned to relax on his own until she arrived home.

He didn’t expect to have to make more for dinner than for two, given that Taichi invited himself over. Once Taichi made his way over, Matt sent a text to TK with the intention of venting, only to receive this reply.

_ "Kari’s been wanting to see him. We’ll stop by.” _

Before Matt knew it, the seats at his dinner table were full with even Davis, Yolei, and Ken somehow tagging along from his younger brother’s invitation. Kari brought an extra dish and dessert, most likely out of sympathy, but Matt knew the situation couldn’t have been helped, and Sora wouldn’t have minded the unexpected guests regardless.

“You know you’ll miss me by the time you’re up in space,” Tai said while Matt cooked over the stove. “Are you nervous?”

“A little, to be honest,” Matt replied. After completing his master’s degree in aerospace engineering, he was selected for the JAXA astronaut training program, which had also been around the time he asked for Sora’s hand in marriage. He had never been happier the moment she said yes. They were married a year into his training, and fast forward another year to the present where he was on the verge of becoming a certified astronaut.

Excited as he was, he still had worries and doubts that he didn’t want to delve deeper to Tai, so he opened the conversation to Tai’s current job in international relations, which Tai had no problem rambling about as long as Matt continued to cook.

By the time they served dinner, the younger Digidestined took the reins of the conversation at the table. Yolei chatted happily about starting a family with Ken smiling warmly at her side.

Naturally, the conversation steered into the topic of children. Kari, Davis, and TK were also already married to their own significant others by then, and they all began an open discussion about how many children they wanted.

“Ken and I were talking about it and I’d love to have a big family,” Yolei said at one point. “I think you'd make a great dad, Ken!”

“That’s exciting!” said Kari, clapping her hands together. “I can’t wait to see mini Yolei’s and mini Ken’s running around!”

“It’ll be something, wouldn’t it?” Ken said, sharing a smile with Yolei. “Having the first child out of all of us - Well, unless…”

“It’s possible,” Matt interjected, knowing that Ken was about to refer to him and Sora. He sensed a few pairs of eyes shifting toward him. TK was about to open his mouth when Davis began to speak.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can’t take everyone out of the running so fast, Ken!” Davis said. “Your child won’t be the first - not if I have anything to say about it.”

TK laughed. “You're really going to make this a competition?”

“Butt out, TP. This is between me and Ken.”

"He goes by ‘Tee-Kay’, and you're an idiot to think you'd have the first child!"

"Wanna say that again, 'maestro'?"

“You’re bonkers if you really believe that!” Yolei added.

Matt had been used to the back and forth banter between the younger Digidestined by now, but he never thought the competitive behavior would fall on a subject like this. He looked over to Tai who was just as surprised as he was. 

As the conversation went on, Kari whispered to Matt that she would try to silence them with dessert. Matt watched TK follow her into the kitchen, and then return with a pie in his hands along with him and Kari giggling between each other.

The pie ended up being a good distraction, and Kari began to grill her brother on when he was going to visit home again. Matt sat and listened along with everyone else, but he could only feel relieved knowing that he didn’t have to answer the question he knew that Ken was about to ask him. 

* * *

“Man, they were at each other’s throats,” said Tai after Matt walked Yolei, Ken, and Davis out of his house.

“No kidding,” Matt replied. “It’s hard to believe that the younger ones are talking about kids.”

“I think Davis is going to beat Ken,” Kari added, and Tai and Matt turned to stare at her.

“You think so?” Tai asked.

“Yup. His girl can be just as fiery as he can be. They’ll have the first kid.”

“No, no.” TK shook his head. “I’m all for Ken and Yolei being the first ones.”

Kari crossed her arms. “Hmm. I can’t wait for the 5,000 yen you’ll be giving me when you lose.”

“I think  _ I’ll  _ be the one being 5,000 yen richer-”

Tai laughed. “You guys made a bet?”

Things began to click in Matt’s head.

“So  _ that’s _ what you two were giggling about earlier.”

“Come on!” said TK. “It makes this whole thing much more fun. You guys wanna join in?”

“Nope,” he said immediately.

“No way,” added Tai.

“Aww, _O_ _ nii-chan _ ,” they whined in unison.

“Leave me out of this,” said Matt, waving his hand with a sense of finality. “Besides, I’d rather not think about kids right now. In fact, I bet I’d be the one to have a kid last.”

Silence fell, and suddenly, all eyes seemed to be on Matt.

“Are you serious, Matt?” Tai asked. “You and Sora are already married. What else is going to happen next? Don't tell me you haven't been trying for one.”

“I mean… It's not like we haven't, you know…” Matt felt his cheeks warm, feeling as though he was tricked into answering an intimate question he didn’t want to answer, especially not in front of TK. “But we're not  _ trying.  _ You, however!” he added quickly, hoping to push the attention towards Tai. “I wouldn't be surprised if you have one first, since you like to do it like you mean to.”

There was a long pause as Tai stared him down.

“...You're definitely going to have one before I do.” 

“I definitely  _ will not.”  _

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Matt couldn’t believe what Tai was saying. Did Tai really think that he was going to win this argument? Was Matt going to let him?

“Seriously, Matt," Tai continued. "Sora's practically a mother already.”

“Which is exactly why she doesn't need children yet. She already has to take care of you and me. Why add to the list?”

“That doesn't mean we can't be crossed off. Hey, we've gotta grow up sometime.”

Matt was too focused on staring down Tai to notice that Kari and TK were exchanging mischievous smiles, followed by raising their hands to shake for a second bet - this time, between their own brothers.


	2. The Odds of Losing

Within the next year, Matt watched as TK and his friends pushed the idea of families even further. Both Yolei as  well as Davis’s wife had announced their pregnancies around the same time, ultimately fueling the competition of the ridiculous bet between Kari and TK, secretly and unwittingly named, “The Takari Bet”. In the following months but at different times, Kari, TK, and Cody had told everyone the same exciting news.

Matt didn’t hear any baby news from anyone else. Izzy and his wife seemed to be holding off on having children, and so were Mimi and her husband. Joe and his wife happened to start the trend among the older Digidestined being the first couple to expect a child - which was not a surprise to anyone. 

Tai recently married the woman he had been happily dating for a while, and Matt and Sora celebrated with them as being their first double date dinner since their marriage. Tai’s wife, who was seemingly oblivious to the Takari Bet,  still had the question at the top of her mind more than anything else.

“So, are you guys planning on having kids?” she asked.

Matt looked to Sora who immediately turned to him, both of them without an immediate response. He laughed nervously along with Sora before she replied.

“We’re thinking about it. How about you two?”

“Well, you know…” Tai said with his eyes shifting to Matt. “We just got married. We’re in no hurry and we wanna take it slow.”

“I get that. Matt’s training in the space program and I’m still starting out in fashion design. It’s a lot to figure out between us so we’re not in a rush either. Right, Matt?”

Matt didn’t expect Sora to give that answer, but even without knowing about the bet, she ultimately helped his cause. He shot Tai a look in return, eyebrows raised.

“Right, Sora,” he replied.

Tai’s wife looked at Matt, then back to Tai, eyeing the two of them suspiciously.

“What’s with the two of you?” she asked.

“Don’t mind them,” Sora said. “I’ve given up figuring them out when they’re together.”

Despite what Sora told Tai and his wife that evening, Matt could tell how much she wanted to start a family. He watched her encourage every one of their friends as they shared their baby news, with her stare showing a want to have one herself. Asking her about it seemed to slip his mind, however, as they both became caught up in advancing in their careers.

It was also within this year that Matt finally became a certified astronaut. Not long after, he was called for an expedition on the International Space Station, in which he and his crew were going to be up in space for six months.

Matt didn’t want to think about being away from Sora for that long. For years, they had been used to being apart for long periods of time due to their own commitments. He had remembered not seeing her for a whole summer while he travelled around Japan with his band at the time; and Sora usually went off with her mother and her ikebana classes from time to time.

It was hard to imagine six months without Sora, and spending two whole weeks with her before his trip didn’t feel like enough. On the night before he had to join his crewmates, Matt cooked her Fettuccine Alfredo - her favorite meal. Then, he made her favorite cocktail before they put on a movie and sat  together  on the couch in the living room.

Neither of them enjoyed watching the movie as much as snuggling against each other as they watched. It was rare for them to sit through a whole movie; either one of them fell asleep, or one of them distracted the other with a kiss. That evening, Sora decided that even the drink wasn’t as exciting as kissing Matt, and he immediately agreed the same for her.

As hasty as they both wanted to be, Sora even bothered to set the unfinished drink on the table in front of them and turned the movie off before the two of them hurried to the bedroom. 

But Matt didn’t want to rush, and he knew that Sora didn’t, either. He savored every slow kiss, with his fingers gliding into her hair as he held her. He relished every soft touch of her hands caressing his back. And feeling her skin against his, seeing her smile set his heart ablaze.

While they came to a rest, they lay side by side in silence, save for the soft breaths Matt heard from either of them. A few moments later, Sora laughed softly and wrapped her arms around him, cuddling against his shoulder.

"I'll miss you, Yama,” she said. It was a childhood nickname that only his grandmother had called him. Sora had been endeared by it when he told her the meaning when they were both in middle school; she had called him that ever since. 

"I'll miss you more,” he replied, gently sweeping the strands of her red hair from her cheeks. “It’ll only be six months.”

“Six months too long.”

“I hope it won't get too lonely for you while I'm away."

Sora held him closer. "You never know," she said, moving to rest her head on his chest. "By the time you come back, there might be two of us waiting for you."

Matt turned his head to face her. "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Sora laughed. "Me and ‘the little one’ is what I mean."

Eyes widening, Matt jolted and sat upright, forcing Sora to sit up with him.

“Yama?” she said. 

“Sora…” Matt began, trying to tame the slow panic he had begun to feel. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

“No! Well, not yet, anyway. We’ve been safe, and as far as you know, the condoms haven’t broken, have they?”

Matt sighed in relief. “Right…So then, what did you mean by that?”

“Well… what if we decided…? No, never mind…”

“Hey, hang on a sec.” Matt held her hand, knowing she was about to say what she had been wanting to say for the longest time. “What is it that you wanted to say?”

“It might not be the right time. You’re about to go off to space and I’ll be here studying clothing patterns and… looking after Tai.”

“Did you really need to add him?”

“He might stop functioning the moment you leave the planet.”

“Fair enough.”

Sora sighed and leaned against him. “I want a baby. I want us to start a family. I’m just… scared. About all the 'What-ifs'.”

Matt wrapped his arms around her. She had revealed her reason to something that meant a lot to her. The question for him at that point, was if it was important to him.

“Sora, what if… _ what if _ ... we had a baby anyway?”

“Oh, Matt… Really?”

“Really. Let’s have one. I’m scared too, you know. But… if we do this together, we can have what you want. What we  _ both _ want.”

Matt knew deep down, how important this was to Sora, to him. It was more important than a silly competition between him and Tai.

“Matt, I…” Sora paused and Matt noticed tears welling up in her eyes. “I just… I don’t know if I’ll be a good mother. That’s what I’m scared of the most.”

Matt couldn’t help but smile. He felt bad that he wanted to laugh - the fact that she would worry about the thing that she showed the best to him and all of their friends.

But he could tell just how much she wanted it to happen, and she wanted to have a child, with  _ him,  _ of all people. She chose to spend her life with him, after all, and he could never take that for granted.

He couldn’t wait to start a family with Sora. 

Turning to face her, Matt lifted his hand to caress her cheek and wipe her tears away. “You will make a great mother, Sora.”

Her gaze lit up at his words, and she lifted herself toward him to meet his lips. She smiled as he kissed her back, both of them falling back into bed together. He wrapped his arms around her, holding Sora close, caring more deeply about being with her than increasing his odds of losing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're all well. I'm trying to keep a schedule and post a chapter each week. We are halfway through!
> 
> Thank you all for reading and for the nice comments so far! Next week will have a few surprises (maybe some tearful ones).
> 
> Thanks again for your support, and I hope you're all safe and well. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it!


	3. The Admission of Defeat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kizuna references/minor spoilers ahead. I had this fic idea written out before Kizuna, so the 2nd half of this chapter would not have been written the way it is now.
> 
> I could also just say: Thank goodness Koushiro/Izzy exists! xx

It took a few weeks for Matt to get used to living in space. Even after a few years of intensive training, he found it interesting to get a grasp on the absence of gravity, and being used to being suspended midair.

Before taking off, Matt and his fellow crew members were surprised to find out that they would be the first group to test out video conferencing capabilities in the International Space Station. All five agencies, including JAXA and NASA, had been working with Izumi Corporation for implementation by the time the next crew arrived at the station. Matt wouldn't have thought that Izzy would reveal that it had been a top secret project even to him, but it was nice to chat with a friendly face occasionally while they were both on the job.

Matt had gotten along with the group of crew members with him, but he always looked forward to his weekly video calls with Sora. He had to hand it to Izzy - six months without being able to see the love of his life, and otherwise communicating minimally through email and video recordings would have been a very lonely time.

There was one particular call a few months in space that Matt had been both looking forward to and dreading at the same time.

It was always a joy for him to see Sora's eyes light up the moment her face appeared on screen and she realized he was looking at her on his side of the atmosphere.

"Hey, Sora," Matt said with a smile. He was dressed down to a casual cotton shirt and jeans since it was his day off.

"Well, if it isn't the 'space man'!" Tai said from the top corner of the screen.

"Matt?!" Mimi's face appeared. "Oh, look at you!"

"Hey, guys!" Matt replied as the whole gang of faces, including his brother, his friends, and their respective spouses, of which the female counterparts had enlarged bellies at various stages of their pregnancies. He had known that Yolei's baby had the earliest due date, thereby making Ken win the Takari Bet, but there had been other news that he had been waiting to tell everyone until that moment.

Izzy was there, too, giving a friendly wave, and even Joe had shown up; he usually made a rare appearance since he was so busy.

But Matt was amused at how Sora managed to convince every one of their friends to gather together this time around.

"Sora must've given you a convincing reason to show up today," Matt said with a chuckle.

"Why wouldn't we be here?" Davis chimed in, seeming to squeeze in between Tai and Izzy. "We wanted to talk to Mr. Cool Guy In Space!"

"It is pretty neat to see how normal it can look up there," Iori observed.

"Aside from that pen floating by his head," added Kari.

Matt looked to Sora who had been smiling but keeping her lips tight. He flashed a knowing smile.

"Sora, why don't you tell them what's really happening?"

"What?"

Every head turned to Sora, and her smile grew from ear to ear.

"Everyone," she began, after taking a deep breath. "I'm finally ready to tell you - I'm pregnant!"

The cheers erupted on Sora's end of the call. Mimi was the first to leap toward Sora to hug her. Matt laughed as he watched Tai, Davis, and TK cheering in excitement.

Matt was relieved that it was out in the open. He was the first to find out about a month into being in the International Space Station, when he and Sora cried with joy together over video chat. Seeing her glowing smile as she hugged all of her friends urged him to break into tears once again.

"I... guess I'm having... a kid last then...eh... Matt?" Tai said, putting his arm around Sora after they exchanged a hug.

Matt hoped that his glare pierced through Tai all the way from space. He knew that Tai's dragged out question was to emphasize his smug acknowledgment of achievement. Matt had known all along that he wasn't going to win the Takari Bet. He had already mentally accepted defeat; the only thing he dreaded was the moment that Tai discovered his inevitable victory.

Besides that, Sora still hadn't known about their competition, and Matt wasn't about to let Tai tell her about it now.

But Sora raised her brow as she looked at Tai's smirk.

"I wouldn't be surprised, given that you're a kid in a grown man's body," Sora replied.

Matt couldn't have been happier to see the change of Tai's expression.

"Hey, I got married, didn't I? That makes me a grown up."

"Yeah," said Matt. "She still married a kid."

"Matt's right," Tai's wife said in the background.

Sora and Matt began to laugh as Tai was at a loss on how to respond next. He and his own wife - he loved how they made a great team against Tai.

Their laughter was cut short, however, when they heard an odd groan from off camera.

"Whoa, honey, you alright?" Davis asked as he and the others turned to the direction where the sound came from. Sora and Tai disappeared and Davis followed quickly. TK appeared on camera next.

"TK, what's going on?" Matt asked.

But Davis' loud announcement answered for him: "We've gotta go. Her water just broke!"

Davis' words were of cheer, and Matt swore he heard some mischievous cackling. Although no one else said anything, Matt knew why. The due date for Davis' baby was set for after Yolei's baby. At that moment, Yolei screamed as she jumped up out of her chair.

"No!" she cried, and everyone fell silent as they looked at her. "...way!" she added.

"Don't start this now, Yolei," Matt heard Ken say as he grabbed her shoulders and walked toward the door where everyone else was headed. Ken had put his brave face on, knowing how this affected the Takari Bet. He also seemed to show a slight tinge of annoyance, but Matt could only empathize with the other man who also had to admit defeat.

Then Kari appeared on screen, and Sora popped in next to TK soon after. "Hey hon," Sora said. "Looks like the party's over. We're all heading to the hospital soon."

"Okay, then," said Matt. "Love you."

"Love you!" Sora said before disappearing again. "TK, turn off the camera?"

" _Hai, Onee-san!"_ said TK.

"Aren't you both going, too?" Matt asked TK and Kari next to him, who grinned with giddiness.

"In a bit." TK then shared a glance with Kari before looking at the camera and lowering his voice. "Listen, when you get back, do you think you could spare some yen?"

Knowing this was referring to Ken's loss, Matt responded with, "You can make 5000 yen easily, TK."

"It's 25,000," Kari replied.

Matt grimaced. "That's still money you can make, but you really put that much money for your bets?"

"I bet the 5K on Ken being first.. And you know me and Kari, we go all in for our big bros."

Matt rolled his eyes as TK smiled with his tongue sticking out.

"Sora said to turn off the camera."

"You love me, right?"

"We'll talk later, TK. Bye, Kari."

Matt ignored the air smooches that TK and Kari scrunched their lips together side by side as Matt pushed to end the call.

* * *

About a month before Matt was set to return to Japan, Sora sent a message for him to get in touch with her as soon as he could. It had become the norm for them to have weekly video chats, so having a call in the middle of the week was out of the ordinary for him.

In fact, Matt was worried about why she wanted to talk to him so soon. He wondered if something went wrong back on Earth; maybe, if she found out some news about the baby.

When her face appeared on the video call screen, he couldn't read her expression.

"Hey, love," she said. "I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."

"No, not at all, Sora," Matt replied, trying to hide his anxiety as he waited for her reason.

"There's someone I want you to see."

Someone? His eyes immediately moved to her stomach, where he saw that she was still carrying their first born inside of her belly.

Sora laughed as she recognized where he was looking. "I knew you'd assume it was the baby. We've still got a ways to go."

Matt had to laugh in relief. He expected to be at her side the moment their child was born and he wouldn't have missed it for the world.

"Okay, then, who is this someone?" he asked.

That was when Sora moved to the side from the camera and Matt drew in a long breath of surprise.

A familiar face appeared and drew closer to the screen, her bright blue eyes blinking and her beak seeming to touch the screen from the other side. Her pink feathers nearly covered the whole screen.

"Matt! Sora? Can he see me?"

"You don't have to stand so close to it, Biyomon," said Sora, giggling.

Matt was at a loss for words.

"Do you remember how Izzy said he would find a way to bring our Digimon back to us?" Sora asked Matt. "He found a way, Matt. He did it."

Matt's eyes began to sting with tears while he saw Sora wipe her eyes with the back of her hands. He remembered the very moment his own Digimon partner was gone, and those times afterward when he cradled Sora in his arms as she cried about losing hers.

"And now Sora has a Digi-Egg in her tummy!" Biyomon chirped.

"Is that what you told her?" Matt asked Sora, laughing as he wiped his tears away.

"I promise to help take care of your daughter in any way that I can!"

"Before you ask, Matt," Sora added. "She's not the only one who wants to help."

Matt couldn't believe his eyes with what happened next. Sora and Biyomon turned to look off camera, and Sora spoke a name that, even as he'd hoped, Matt didn't think he would hear again.

"Gabumon, why are you so far away?" Biyomon asked.

"Sora said not to stand so close to the camera," Gabumon said with a pout.

"Come over here, so that Matt can see you!" Sora said.

As soon as the blue furried Digimon appeared on screen, he blinked and he smiled cheerfully.

"It's so good to see you, Matt," he said.

"Gabumon…"

Matt couldn't stop crying. He wondered if he was crying as hard as he did when Gabumon disappeared before his very eyes. His tears blurred his vision, and he might have been convinced that Gabumon would disappear as soon as the tears washed the unbelievable sight away.

"Gabumon, are you real?" Matt had to ask.

"As real as the Digi-Egg inside of Sora!" Gabumon said with a grin.

"She told you that, too."

Matt was laughing now with his tears streaming down. That moment was enough to believe that Gabumon was real, and so was Biyomon, and the fact that only Izzy would find the miracle to bring the Digimon partners back. He couldn't wait to return home to hold Sora, and to hug Gabumon, two figures of his life that made him feel whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to take this opportunity to shout into the void that _this is canon_!!!
> 
> Or I wish it was. I'd love to think that Koushiro used his skills and special trait to the absolute best of his ability along with his company resources to find a way to "revive the bond" and have all the Digimon return - thus bridging the gap between the end of Kizuna and the 02 epilogue.
> 
> One can dream! I'm glad I was able to write my ~~canon~~ headcanon into one of my fics somehow. Kizuna left me heartbroken. T_T
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading and keeping up with this so far. Next week we still have to see a _gamechanger_ before this story ends.


	4. The Game Changer - Final

For the most part, Matt believed that he was living a good, happy life. He now had two beautiful ladies in it: he had Sora, and then his first daughter Ayame who had inherited his blonde hair and blue eyes but also Sora's temperament. Ayame had her peaceful days. Sometimes she cried so much that even Sora couldn't get her to stop; but Gabumon and Biyomon usually came to the rescue in those moments.

Over the next year, the other Digidestined were busy settling with their own first-born children, other than Ken and Yolei, who were already pregnant with their second. Tai and his wife were occupied with their son, who happened to be born a few short weeks after Matt and Sora's daughter.

To think, if Matt's first mission in the International Space Station had been pushed a month or two later…

 _"Baah!"_ his daughter exclaimed in front of him, smacking her hands against his chest and taking him out of his thoughts.

"What is it, Ayame?" Matt asked. "Got somethin' to tell me?"

Ayame babbled and gurgled in response, her arms flailing.

Matt gasped. "Who taught you that? That's not very nice."

He held his fingers up and wriggled them in front of Ayame, then moved to tickle her, making her giggle with delight. Listening to her laugh was the most joyful sound that he had the pleasure of hearing.

Sora called him from behind the couch where he sat with Ayame, and when he looked up he was met with a kiss. She didn't make it a quick peck as she did just to greet whenever she passed by. Her soft lips lingered against his for a few moments, catching him off guard.

"I love you," she said with an affectionate smile that reached her eyes.

"I love you, too," he said without any hesitation.

It was one of those moments that made him float on air, feeling happy after everything that he and Sora had been through over the years. Along with a great career as an astronaut, he had Sora in his life, and Ayame, and even Gabumon.

He was more than satisfied to care about a silly competition that he had lost against Tai, and he couldn't imagine how his life could get any better.

Until he thought about having a second child.

Luckily, Matt and Sora had Uncle Takeru who offered to take care of Ayame and their Digimon partners whenever they had their date nights. It was during one of their date nights when they both found it hard to keep their hands off of each other while cooking dinner together. They sat side-by-side as they ate, sometimes feeding each other and occasionally stealing kisses. After dumping the dishes into the sink, Matt could no longer resist, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck from behind; and he persuaded Sora to drop the sponge and clean up later.

Pretty soon, they burst into their bedroom crashing onto their bed, Sora holding onto Matt's shoulders as she fell on her back, their kisses fierce and urgent. Sora's dress had already slipped off in the hallway, along with Matt's shirt and then his jeans kicked off at the foot of the bed.

He slid his hands on her chest, and he kissed her neck and trailed down, hearing her laugh softly and exhale his name. Her hands had been running circles on his back, then on the front of his chest where her fingers lowered for a tease. Matt knew that they had both been yearning for more, and he moved back up to kiss her sweet lips that called for him.

When Matt knew the timing was right, he reached over to the nightstand to open the drawer. But just as he did, Sora grabbed onto his arm with her hand to stop him.

"Sora?" he asked, both of them in the midst of racing hearts and heat rising between them.

"We don't need it," she breathed.

"Are you sure?"

"Yama…" she let go of his arm and cupped her hand on the side of his face. "If you're not going to admit it, then I will. I want another baby, and I know you do, too."

Matt looked into her eyes as she waited for him to speak. She smiled her knowing smile.

"Tell me I'm right," she whispered.

Matt took her free hand and laced his fingers with hers. "You're right. I want another baby with you. More than anything."

Sora's eyes twinkled as she stared back at him.

"Well, then, what are you waiting for?"

He met her lips once again, kissing her passionately and holding her close. She kissed him back, her affectionate, persuasive response that she was ready to make that baby.

But suddenly, she stopped Matt with her hand against his chest.

"Hang on," she said. "I have to ask. This isn't about the Takari Bet, is it? About which one of you idiots was going to have a kid last?"

Matt froze on top of her. His eyes might have enlarged before hers as though he was a deer in headlights.

"H...How did you know?" Matt asked.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out? I've known since the gathering while you were on your first trip in space. Found out right before I called you. Tai has never been good at keeping things to himself."

"Ah…Ahah…"

Matt was at a loss of what to say next.

"Y… You must be upset…" he added. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."

He couldn't read her face and it made him more hesitant.

"I could yell at you all night about this. Maybe longer than that. But… We have a more important matter at hand."

"We do…?"

Sora looked at him with fire in her eyes. "We're going to have a kid last. That was the bet, wasn't it? No way in hell will Tai ever want more than one kid."

Matt paused as he looked at her in disbelief, but quickly realized exactly what she meant.

"I love you more than you know," Matt said, gazing deep into her eyes in utmost admiration.

Sora laughed. "I know."

Sora never ceased to amaze Matt. He had known that they were both in sync with the desire for a second child, but he should have expected that their common interest in winning against Tai was going to shine through, even when it came to this. They made a great team, after all.

~*~*~*~*~

* * *

~*~*~*~*~

About a year later, Ryota Ishida was born.

Tai arrived home late at night after visiting Sora and Matt at the hospital. He was the first of their friends to hold Ryota, who had hair as fiery as his mother's, and a glare that couldn't compare to hers, either.

He was over the moon for his best friends, and could only congratulate them on their second child.

He stopped by his own child's room, who had let out a gasp the moment Tai opened the door. The mini version of him was sitting up in his crib when Tai turned the light on. Agumon had been keeping watch, but was in a deep sleep next to the crib.

"What are you doing, big guy?" Tai asked him.

"I go sleep now…" he mumbled, sliding underneath his blanket.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I sleepy…"

"Okay. Night, buddy."

When Tai closed the door, he sighed in exasperation, knowing that his son would have stayed up longer than his parents had told him to had he not been caught. Heaven knows how Tai's mom was able to deal with him.

Tai was definitely okay with having one kid. One kid was just fine.

Yet...

He remembered the day Matt and Sora announced that they were pregnant. Again. How happy he was for them. Everyone was. But he couldn't help but notice, the way Matt gave him a look, an unspoken announcement of triumph. Even the smile of victory on Sora's face. It was a game changer that Taichi hadn't realized could have happened toward their bet.

Kari had given Tai a hug of empathy, having lost 20,000 yen, while TK joined him at his other side with a smug smile that he had worn right after Matt and Sora's announcement.

That day was still on his mind as Tai joined his wife in bed after washing up and dressing into his pajamas. He felt her shifting at his side, and he turned his body to face her, his eyes falling on her face, with her own eyes closed as she lay still.

Knowing that one small move could make her stir, he glided his hand up and down her arm at her side, and then-

"Don't," she said, her eyes suddenly wide open, causing him to retract his hand.

"I didn't say anything!" he said.

"You were thinking it. Pretty hard, too. I already deal with two children. I don't need a third."

She shifted again, her back now facing him.

Tai knew that she was going to shoot down any implication of a second child. She had put up with Tai boasting about the Takari Bet since they first got married, and then with his silent but obvious sulking after Matt and Sora started talking about Ryota.

With a heavy sigh, he turned to her and kissed the back of her neck before pulling her close.

Then, he stopped and realized what she said. "Wait - 'two children'?"

"That includes you, too."

"...But you love us, right?"

"You know I do."

Tai held his wife tightly. He knew that their son was enough for them, a son that was a handful but whom they loved with their whole being.

That, and he knew that losing against Matt was just something he had to accept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! I must admit - I have a few stories I should get back to working on, but this was light-hearted and heartwarming and the kind of thing I needed to uplift my mood in these crazy times.
> 
> Thank you for reading and for your support! Your reviews have been really kind and made my days. I hope you enjoyed this final chapter and this fic overall. Stay safe and healthy my friends. <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> I'm on Tumblr and Twitter. @noctisfishing. Come hang out. <3


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